


Co-stars, Hospitals, Alcohol, Stalkers, Facebook and Oscars: Six Stories About One Thing.

by duckgirlie



Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, being outed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-02
Updated: 2010-03-02
Packaged: 2017-10-17 18:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/180106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckgirlie/pseuds/duckgirlie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times the press found out about Chris and Zach and one time they announced it</p>
            </blockquote>





	Co-stars, Hospitals, Alcohol, Stalkers, Facebook and Oscars: Six Stories About One Thing.

**Author's Note:**

> For [this prompt](http://community.livejournal.com/trek_rpf_kink/2887.html?thread=3865927#t3865927) in the [](http://community.livejournal.com/trek_rpf_kink/profile)[**trek_rpf_kink**](http://community.livejournal.com/trek_rpf_kink/) meme. This kind of ran away from me a bit, but I hope it's what you wanted. The first five are set now-ish, and the sixth is in the nearish future.

**The Time When Someone Else Was Stupid:**

  
Zach had rung him that morning to complain.

“Remind me never to commit to anything that far in advance again, right?”

“You’ve made me promise that about once a week since the film wrapped.”

“It’s warrented. And you also need to make sure I never have to go near Brianna Bride ever again either.”

“She’s harmless.”

“Only because she’s too stupid to be dangerous.”

Chris heard a knock on the door and wandered into the hallway.

“Zoe’s here, gotta go. Have fun with Brianna on E!”

Chris let Zoe in, handed her a soda, and they both flopped heavily onto the couch.

She was flipping through the channels on the tv when Zach’s face flashed up on screen and he stopped her.

“Is this for the new film?”

“Yeah. You have to see Brianna speak, Zach doesn’t think he’s ever met anyone that stupid before. I met her a few times, she pronounced Depeche Mode ‘De-patchy’ and didn’t seem to understand there’s more to government then the President.”

On tv, Ryan Seacrest called up a clip from the film, and once it started playing, Zoe found it hard to keep a straight face. The tiny blonde was pulling every trick from ‘quirky 101’ out of the bag, and Zach was obviously having trouble doing anything with the scene.

“How did he end up in this?”

“The original script was by a friend of his, and he agreed to do it to help with funding, but then they got a new director, and script edits, and more script edits, then a different director, and Bryce Dallas Howard managed to wiggle herself free, and by then he was stuck.”

“Poor baby.”

“Yeah, he’s hilariously bitchy about it. I just want to see how well he manages to hide how much he hates the thing.”

On tv, even Ryan Seacrest was struggling to look interested, which is a bad sign. Zach’s face was as blank as he can get it, and Brianna was smiling widely. It’s her first leading role, and if Chris hadn’t had four months of Zach’s whining he’d probably manage to feel sympathetic for her, she was so obviously out of her depth in all concerns. And if you’re out of your depth on E! you’re in trouble.

Ryan asked Zach how he’d gotten involved in a film that was ‘so different to his usual roles’ and Zach managed to ramble on about his connection for a few minutes, leaving Brianna standing slightly useless to the side, until Ryan was finally forced to engage with her.

“So, Brianna…. Did you identify with your character in any way?”

“Totally! I mean, like, I know she, like, is like, crazy, or whatever? But she’s, like, mainly just a passionate person, who like, _feels_ everything so much more then like, anyone else in like, the whole world. And I, like, totally identify with that, because that’s like, _so me_!”

Zach looked professional, but Chris could tell he wanted to stab someone.

Ryan smiled at her and kept talking. “And this is your first big film role, so were you excited?”

“It was great! I mean, all my friends were like, _so jealous_ , and they were all ‘oh my god, you get to make out with Sylar!’ -” Zach managed to visibly cringe and roll his eyes simultaneously, “-and I was all ‘it totally doesn’t mean anything!’ Because like, I know Zach is super-hot, but _obviously_ I know that, like, making out on film means like, nothing, especially since like, Zach has a boyfriend. And Chris is such a nice guy but I still felt really awkward whenever he was on set. I was like, ‘I’d hate to watch someone make out with my boyfriend all day’…”

On screen, about a million things were suddenly happening at once. Zach seemed to freeze halfway through her speech and both Ryan and Brianna noticed at the same time. She trailed off and started flapping her hands in a panic at the exact same moment as Ryan swung around to face a different camera, wrapping the interview up immediately.

The screen actually went black for a second as the director reacted to Ryan cutting the segment off early, before switching over to an extra-long promo for something terrible.

Zoe clicked the tv off and turned to look at him.

“Are you okay?”

It took Chris a few seconds to respond. She laid a hand on his arm and he jerked to attention.

“Chris?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

He got up and moved into the kitchen, downing a glass of water and pouring out a second one. When he got back to the living room Zoe was still on the couch, looking at him with deep concern.

“I’m fine, Zoe, seriously.”

She looked like she was about to say something else when his phone started ringing, blaring ‘I got a feeling’ because Zach hates that song and sometimes Chris likes to get him annoyed about insignificant things.

“I have to take this.”

“Yeah.” She stood and pulled her coat on to leave. “If you need anything…”

“Yeah.”

The instant the door shuts behind her he answered the phone, curling himself up on the couch.

*****

The second the cameras went off, Zach ran off set. He shoved his way through the assorted crew members to the green room, but the door was still locked, and he was stuck pacing back-and-forth in the corridor until someone let him in to get his cell.

Brianna rushed over in tears a few seconds later, trying to apologise, and he found himself comforting _her_. He finally managed to get rid of her when Ryan called a PA over to open the green room, and promised to cut the end of the interview from the re-broadcast later, but it’ll be all over god knows how much of the internet by then.

He finally managed to get his phone and dialed Chris.

“Did you watch?”

“Yeah.”

Zach slid down the wall and pulled his knees up to his chest.

“I’m sorry.”

Chris laughed slightly. “This is totally not your fault.”

“Stupid Brianna.”

“Stupid Brianna”

Zach raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s not even her fault, really. I mean, it’s not like I told her. It didn’t even occur to her that we weren’t…”

“That’s kind of sweet.”

“Yeah.”

There was a moment of silence at both ends of the line and they just listened to each other breathing, before Zach sighed deeply.

“Look,” he started. “Brianna said she’d laugh it off and say she was mistaken if I wanted, but I’ve been expecting this for a while, kind of. But you’re probably okay. I mean, there are lots of Chris’s, aren’t there? I don’t have to say anything…”

There was a silence at the other end of the line.

“Chris? Are you still there?”

“Is that… Is that what you want?” He sounded unsure.

“Isn’t it what you want? I mean, I don’t want this to screw you over too…”

“Zach, people are going to find out. They’ll see us together, and they’ll make the connection, so unless you don’t want …”

“No! Of course not, I’d never… I just don’t want you to feel forced…”

“I don’t. I never… I love you, okay? You idiot.”

“I love you.”

Chris laughed down the line. “Stay where you are, okay? I’m going to pick you up. We can flip TMZ off and get some lunch, okay?”

“Okay.”

 **The Time When There Were More Pressing Matters At Hand:**

  
Chris was in a museum when it happened, his phone off as he wandered around the different collections enjoying the silence.

He turned it back on when he was in his car, and it instantly started ringing.

“Sendhil, what’s up ma…”

The other man cut him off. “Why the fuck haven’t you been answering your phone?”

“I’m at the Getty, they don’t like them. What’s the problem?”

“There’s been an accident.”

Chris slammed on the breaks in the middle of the parking lot, earning him a chorus of angry horns and abuse from the other drivers. There was only one person he could be talking about.

“Where are you?”

“We’re at County. Just, drive care…”

He snapped his phone shut, tossed it on the passenger seat, and put his foot down, earning another round of abuse as he cut a driver off to speed out onto the road.

Chris sped towards the hospital as fast as he dared, spending all the minutes stuck in traffic tapping his head rhythmically off the head rest and chanting ‘fuck’ under his breath. When he got to the hospital he parked badly and ran blindly into the ER.

He came skidding to a halt in front of Sendhil, caught by the other man before he hit the wall, and nearly collapsed into a chair.

He was still gasping for breath when he reached out to grab at Sendhil’s shirt. “Where… where is he?”

“I’ve only been here a few minutes, they brought him through immediately. He… he doesn’t look good.”

Chris’s heart leaped into his throat and he had to lean over with his head between his knees to keep from hyperventilating.

“Will he be okay?”

“They won’t tell me anything.”

He jumped to his feet and rushed over to the desk, drumming his fingers anxiously on the counter until one of the receptionists came over. He kept dialing Joe Quinto’s phone, hanging up every time it clicked through to voicemail and trying again instantly.

“Can I help you?” The receptionist was giving off a general impression that whatever Chris’s personal crisis was, it was interfering with whatever else she was doing with her time.

“I’m looking for Zachary Quinto, he came in in an ambulance?”

She popped her gum before answering. “Are you a relative?”

“No, I’m… I’m…”

She cut him off. “I can’t tell you anything unless you’re a relative.”

“I’m trying to call his brother, but he’s at work. Look, when he gets here, he’ll tell you it’s okay, you can tell me what’s wrong, it’s fine, he’s my…”

“Sorry.” She gave him a look of vague sympathy. “When his family gets in, you can talk to them, but I can’t give any information to non-family members.”

She turned to the next person in line and Chris was about to grab her across the desk and _demand_ information when Sendhil grabbed his elbow and pulled him away.

“Chris, I know you’re worried, but attacking the receptionist is really not going to help things right now.”

He shook himself free and stalked over to the door, dialing Joe again. Outside, he leaned his forhead against the wall and dragged heavily on a cigarette. A minute later, Sendhil re-appeared and handed Chris a cup of coffee.

“I know it’s not up to your usual standards, but I figured you could use some.”

“Thanks.”

Chris turned around and slid down the wall, clutching the cup in one hand and his cigarette in the other, his phone cradled between his ear and his shoulder as he waited for Joe to answer.

“What happened?”

“We were shooting a scene where Sylar gets attacked, there were a bunch of squibs and he was tied up on some wires to fly back through a wall. One of the squibs misfired and damaged one of the wires, he hit the wall in the wrong place and instead of breaking through and hitting the crashmat he just slid down until he hit the ground.”

“How bad is it?”

“He hit the ground pretty hard.”

Chris flinched suddenly, his phone sliding from his shoulder and breaking apart when it hit the ground.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.”

His coffee spilled all over his jeans when he dropped everything and scrabbled for the parts, trying desperately to fit them back together.

“Fuck!” He shouted, banging his head against the wall and slamming the broken pieces on the ground.

“Chris, it’s okay…”

“No it’s not! What if Joe is trying to call me and he thinks it’s not… Can I have your phone?”

“Sure.” Sendhil handed it over and Chris immediately started dialing again.

He started pacing again. “Where’s Zach’s phone? If Joe can’t ring me back he might try Zach, and if no one answers he’ll think I just pocket-dialled him or something.”

“I think it’s still in his trailer… I can ring the set and see if someone can bring it over.”

“Thanks.”

Chris headed back inside the building and Sendhil followed him as soon as he was done with the payphone. Chris still had the phone jammed to his ear and was fighting with the coffee machine. He grabbed the other man and pushed him into a seat.  
“Remember what I said with you about attacking things? Sit tight, I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Did you…”

“Greg had the same idea you did, he’s already on his way.”

“Thanks.”

Sendhil hurried to the cafeteria, hoping coffee from something other then a vending machine might help Chris from panicking himself until he got sick. He got back to the waiting room just as Greg arrived, handing Chris Zach’s phone and looking to Sendhil for an update.

“They won’t tell us anything. Chris is trying to get in touch with Joe, but he hasn’t been able too.” He lowered his voice slightly and edged them away from Chris. “I think he’s going to explode if he doesn’t hear something soon.”

“Can you blame him?”

They gave Chris the coffee and he flashed them a grateful, if weak smile before turning back to the phone.

“A bunch of photographers followed the ambulance from the set, some of them are still outside. You should be careful.”

Chris laughed joylessly. “Right now, I don’t think I could care less about… Joe!”

He nearly spilled his coffee when the phone connected. “Where have you… I’ve been… I broke my phone… Shut up for a second… There’s been an accident… We’re at county… I don’t know… Joe, they won’t tell me anything, they said they can only talk to a rel… Just, hurry, okay? I don’t think I can handle waiting any longer.”

He disconnected and collapsed back into his seat, exhaling heavily.

“Joe’s coming.”

Sendhil sat down beside him. “See, we’ll know soon. You have to relax or you’ll sprain something.”

Chris exhaled again and started drinking his coffee. A few seconds later, the receptionist approached them.

“You came in with Mr. Quinto, right?” She asked Sendhil.

“Yeah.”

“Do you know his blood type?”

“What? No. What’s going on, is there a problem?”

“It’s B positive.” Chris interrupted.

“Thank you.”

She was about to head away when he grabbed her arm. “Is he okay? Is something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve already told you I can’t tell you anything.”

She tried to pull away, but Chris’s hand was still clamped around her elbow. Sendhil had to reach up to pry him off. He rubbed wide circles on Chris’s back.

“It’ll be okay, Chris. We just have to wait for Joe.”

“I shouldn’t fucking have to wait.”

He jumped to his feet and started pacing again, gulping his coffee and chewing his nails. Suddenly, there was a rush of activity in the hallway, a crowd of doctors and nurses converging on one of the rooms. Sendhil froze.

“What?”

“That’s Zach’s room.”

Chris didn’t even pause before rushing to the hallway, trying to see through the crowd in the room. He was about to push through some of the people when Greg and Sendhil pulled him back.

“Easy man, you can’t get in the way.”

He shook them off and ran over to the reception desk. “What’s happening in there? Is something wrong? _Is he okay_?”

It was a different receptionist behind the counter, one who looked marginally more sympathetic.

“I’m sorry Mr. Pine, but we really can’t say anything. I know you’re concerned about your co-star, but…”

“He’s not my co-star!” Chris interrupted, slamming his fist against the desk. “He’s not my co-star, he’s my fucking boyfriend and I really need to know if he’s going to be okay.”

The receptionist blanched slightly at his outburst before offering him a tissue. “I’m sorry, but I really can’t tell you anything. Once we get in touch with his family they’ll be able to fill you in.”

He slammed his hands down on the desk again before stalking outside, shouting over his shoulder. “This is fucking ridiculous.”

Outside, he lit another cigarette and dragged his hands roughly across his scalp, yanking at his hair and leaning heavily against the railing. He was through three more cigarettes before Sendhil and Greg joined him.

“Are they still in there?” He asked.

“Most of them just left the room.”

He couldn’t quite bring himself to ask the next question

“They’ve moved him upstairs.”

Chris let go of the breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding and his knees buckled underneath him. He landed on the ground with a thump and pulled his knees in as tightly as he could.

That’s how Joe found him when he arrived. Chris was curled up on himself, drawing in deep gasping breaths as Sendhil and Greg flanked him and exchanged panicked glances over his head. The instant Joe saw him his face fell, suspecting the worst and Chris had to pull himself awkwardly to his feet and try and explain that he thought he was safe, still stuttering through his tears. Joe’s shoulders relaxed infinitesimally as he clasped Chris against himself until the younger man managed to regulate his breathing.

It’s only when Joe loosens his hold and they turn to re-enter the hospital that Chris notices the photographers, lined up along the edge of the parking lot. The second his makes eye contact with one the flashes start, a barrage of questions firing over the tarmac. Chris grabbed Joe’s arm and pulled him inside the building.

The second receptionist was still there, and she looked at Chris like she was afraid he was going to cause another scene. He just gestured angrily at Joe.

“Okay, his brother’s here. Can we talk to the doctor now?”

She looked at Joe’s proffered ID before nodding slightly. “Mr. Quinto, I can take you through to a doctor now. Mr. Pine, if you want to wait he…”

Chris didn’t even need to interrupt her, Joe just squeezes his shoulder slightly and tells her he can come in too.

Inside, they’re told that Zach’s broken his arm and some of his fingers, dislocated his hip, and cracked five ribs. That he’s got a head wound, but it looks much worse then it is. That he’s covered in bruises, and that he’s going to be fine, once he gets some rest and doesn’t move much for about a month.

“What about the blood?”

“That was just a precaution. Before we got the results of the CAT scan there was a chance we would have to operate, but there was no significant damage.”

Chris exhales shakily for what feels like the millionth time that day and asks if they can see him.

“One at a time.”

Joe went in first, leaving Chris pacing the hallway again. He came out a few minutes later, relief all over his face, and leaves Chris alone so he can call his mother. Chris takes another deep breath before pushing the door open.

Zach was lying in bed, covered in bandages, with a large chunk of his hair shaved away, showing a long line of stitches running from his temple to the back of his skull. He looked like he was just at the edge of sleep, so Chris took a seat at the side of the bed and slid his hand into Zach’s unbandanged one. A tiny smile quirked at the edge of Zach’s mouth and Chris felt the rest of the tension drain out of him.

“Hey.” Zach smiled slightly, dozy on painkillers.

“Hey. How do you feel?”

“Like I hit a wall, and then the floor. How do I look?”

“Only like you hit the floor.”

Zach smiled again, fighting back a yawn. “That’s good. How are you?”

“I want to marry you.”

Zach started slightly and winced as one of his bandages pulled against him.

“Hey, don’t move, you’ll hurt yourself.” He tried to find somewhere on Zach’s face to touch but had to give up and just squeeze his hand slightly.

“We can’t get married.”

“Then civil-unioned or domestically partnered or whatever they have here. Whatever means I don’t have to wait for an hour without being told anything when god knows what has happened to you.”

Zach squeezed his hand and smiled again. “You know that’ll all be a matter of public record?”

“I don’t care.” Chris pulled Zach’s arm closer and ran his thumb along the inside of his wrist. “Besides, I think every photographer in LA just caught me crying so hard I nearly puked, not to mention yelling at the receptionist that I wasn’t just your co-worker, so I don’t think ‘just good friends’ is going to fly any more.”

He pressed a kiss to Zach’s fingers. “For me anyway. You can still play the friendly but baffled straight recipient of my un-returned affections if you want to…”

Zach laughed slightly and pulled Chris’s hand until it was firmly clasped against his chest.

“Of course I’ll marry you, or whatever. But you’ll have to ask me again tomorrow, when I’m not off my face.”

“Of course.”

He caressed Zach’s arm until the other man fell asleep, then curled up on his chair, his hand still tight against Zach’s heartbeat.

 **The Time When They Were Really Fucking Drunk:**

  
Chris had absolutely no idea where he was. Somewhere _Trek_ related, he could guess that much by who else was there, but the shots he’d been downing with Simon had put everything else out of his sphere of perception.

Simon looked at him critically and knocked back another shot, gesturing towards the remaining glass in front of Chris.

At that point, Chris would do almost anything to avoid taking that shot. Simon clapped his hands and raised both arms in the air, celebrating his victory. Chris managed to get out words to the effect of ‘fuck you, I’ll get you next time’ and Simon patted him condescendingly on the shoulder.

“Nice try, pretty boy. But I’ve got it in the bag.”

He waved his hands dismissively as Simon headed across the room and slid back in his seat, trying to remember what the occasion was. Remembering what they were doing was Zach’s job, and last time he’d seen him, Zach had been deeply involved in conversation with Karl about something Chris had no interest in. He pulled himself out of his chair with a little effort and tried to find him.

He manged to figure out he was in someone’s house rather then a bar after he tripped over a couch and found Zach and Karl still discussing _whatever_ on the kitchen floor. He flopped down dramatically next to them, wrapped his arms around Zach and caught his earlobe between his teeth.

“You’re lucky I’m not the jealous type.”

“How do you know you’re not interrupting something?” Karl asked, trying for stern.

“Because,” Chris slid his hand into the neck of Zach’s shirt and ran his fingers through his chest hair, “I know you’ve been talking for over an hour, and however interesting that is, Zach finds me _endlessly_ more fascinating.”

Zach leaned back into his arms and laughed. “He’s got you there.”

Karl rolled his eyes and got to his feet, leaving without saying anything else. Zach twisted around to face Chris, and the moment their eyes met Chris could tell he was, if possible, even drunker then he was. He pulled him closer, pressing their lips together and pulling the remainder of Zach’s shirt out of his waistband. He had all of the buttons undone and was just about to try for his belt when a cough forced them to slightly disentangle.

Above them, John was opening another bottle of wine and shaking his head, trying to suppress a smile. “Dudes. Not cool. I have to eat in here.”

Zach pressed back in to whisper in his ear. “I don’t think John wants us fucking in his kitchen.”

Chris laughed, because _of course_ they’re in John’s house, and pulled them to their feet.

“You’re right. We’re leaving.”

He hooked his hand into the front of Zach’s waistband (which took a little effort with Zach’s jeans) and pulled him stumbling through the house, waving a distracted goodbye at anyone he passed on the way.

When they stepped out the door, the air hit Chris, making him, if anything, even drunker then before. His hand still hooked into the front of Zach’s pants, he watched the other man call a cab, impressed at how together he managed to sound on the phone.

“What?”

“Right now, when you do this,” he waved his free hand haphazardly thought the air, “is what makes me like, totally love you.”

Zach smiled, his shirt still hanging open, and took a step closer, nearly pressing Chris against the garden wall.

“I don’t think I can love you when you say ‘like, totally’.”

Chris yanked him forward until they were plastered against each other and started pressing sloppy kisses all over Zach’s face and neck.

“If I can love you when you refuse to use capitals, you can love me when I say ‘like, totally’.”

“I suppose I can make that sacrifice.”

Zach twisted his hand in Chris’s hair and pulled his head back, attaching himself to Chris’s neck and sucking a giant mark on top of his pulse. Chris groaned loudly and tried to pull Zach’s hips even closer, but he couldn’t manage. He was this close to dropping to his knees on John’s lawn when the cab pulled up outside.

The driver didn’t seem to recognise them, and that probably gave Chris more confidence then he should have in the situation. They’d barely pulled away from the pavement when he turned his head, caught the look in Zach’s eyes and his mouth went dry. He released his belt instantly and clambered across the seat, planting one knee on either side of Zach’s hips and pulling him in for another kiss.

Zach didn’t even try to resist, his hands finding Chris’s hips and pulling him even closer. The driver’s eyes never left the road, because this is LA and they’re hardly the first drunken couple to start dry-humping in the back seat.

They’re back at Zach’s place before anything could get finished, and Zach barely had a chance to smile apologetically and throw the driver an extra-large tip before Chris was dragging him inside the house and pressing him against hallway floor.

*****

The next morning, Chris was preparing himself for the world’s biggest hangover when he got a single text message from John.

 _Glad to see you both enjoyed yourselves last night, hopefully next time can be just as entertaining. Just one thing – you do know lots of cabs have security cameras now, right?_

Chris groaned and buried his head under the covers. He could not be dealing with that right now.

 **The Time When Someone Crossed the Line:**

  
Zach couldn’t figure out if it was his imagination, or if there really were more paparazzi outside then usual. They didn’t tend to congregate in front of his house anymore, not for ages, but the guys outside definitely seemed to have some sort of purpose, even if they were just standing around and smoking.

He was barely awake and trying to figure out a message from Chris – _If I come over now, I’ll probably end up arrested. See you tomorrow._ – when he notices a flurry of activity outside. The crowd of photographers part slightly and Kristen strides through, a giant, too-perfect smile plastered across her face as she steadily ignored all the flashbulbs going off in her face.

The second the door closed behind her the smile melted off her face, and Zach got a sinking feeling about what this is all about. Before she even got a chance to say anything he’s gulped down his coffee and poured a second cup. Maybe if he avoids talking about it it’ll just go away.

Which is stupid, really, so he eventually turns around to face Kristen, still standing in the middle of his living room.

“I take it you haven’t been online this morning?”

“I haven’t even taken Noah out yet.”

She peered critically out the window. “That’s probably a good thing.”

He laughed shortly and flopped down on the couch.

“So what’s the damage? Did someone catch his car outside my house one too many times? Did someone steal his phone again?”

Kristen sat down next to him and pulled the laptop on the coffee table towards them.

“There’s… a lot of pictures, apparently.”

“Apparently?”

“I saw about three of them before it started to feel… icky.”

Zach’s eyes widened slightly in panic and she rushed to reassure him.

“Oh, god no. Nothing like that. You’re not like… naked or anything.” Turning the laptop around, she set it in his lap. “Just… Look.”

Zach scrolled methodically down through the photos on the page she’d called up. They’re all taken with a telephoto lens, as far as he can tell, because none of them seem to be in public. In the first, they’re standing next to each other on his balcony, talking about something insignificant with their hands tangled together where they’re leaning on the balcony. The next few are in Chris’s back garden, they’re sprawled on the grass, his head pillowed on Chris’s lap as the other man reads, except in the third photo where he’s got his hand tangled in Chris’s hair and is pulling him down for a kiss.

They’re all almost completely innocuous. So basic that if they were of any other couple selling them wouldn’t even buy the photographer a cup of coffee. Even with them most of them are so innocent they’re barely news. It’s only the amount of them, and the fact they’re obviously from a long period of time that makes them significant.

Halfway down, he starts to get what Kristen meant. He almost wished they _were_ naked or something, because these shots are just too creepily intimate. When he gets to the end, it’s a shot of them sprawled out on some garden furniture. He’s got his arm around Chris, who’s pressing a kiss to the back of his hand, and Zach’s looking at him like he’s what makes the sun come up. He’s never seen that look on his own face, and suddenly his stomach flips.

Zach shoves the laptop back at Kristen and rushes to the bathroom to throw up.

When he came up for air she wass standing in the doorway and handed him a glass of water.

“You okay?”

He nodded slightly, sipping his water gingerly to avoid getting sick again. Kristen slouched down on the tiles next to him.

“Needless to say, it’s like, massively illegal. Tyler says he can’t imagine TMZ are going to be able to keep them up past the weekend. Your lawyer can get them taken down, they might even be able to get the photographer arrested, but…”

“But everyone will have seen them by Monday.”

“If it makes it any better, they probably promised their first-born to Rumpelstiltskin for the photos.”

“Then what was the fucking point?”

“It’s as much publicity for them as for you guys.”

Zach banged his head against the wall and winced sharply at the pain. Kristen reached over and smacked his arm.

“Stop that. It’s not the end of the world.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I mean, it’s not like I wasn’t expecting it, sometime. But I thought he’d accidentally leave the house in my shirt, or he’d lose his phone again when it actually had something on it, or… Something. This is just…”

He shuddered and jumped to his feet, walking through the house and shutting all the curtains. When the last set were closed he took a deep breath, and Kristen could see some of the tension melt out of his shoulders.

“Can you give me a ride? I think I might mow one of the fuckers down if I’m behind the wheel.”

“Sure thing. Where are we going?”

“I just need to not be in here for a while.”

The second they stepped outside, the crowd went wild, and it takes absolutely everything Zach has not to start randomly punching.

 _This must be how Chris feels all the time_ , he thought, and pulled out his phone as soon as they were moving.

Chris answered before the first ring was over.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I just had to fight back the urge to break a photographer’s nose, and I thought of you.”

At the other end of the line Chris laughed, completely unforced, and Zach couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m surprised you’ve left the house. I can’t even look out the windows.”

“Kristen’s driving me around.”

“He was about to start punching walls.” She yelled from her place in the driver’s seat, and Zach would have bet anything he could hear Chris smile at the other end of the line.

“Tell Kristen thank you for saving you from yourself.”

“You just don’t want me putting my hands out of commission.”

Another laugh. “There is that.”

They’ve nearly circled the block and Kristen pulls up at the lights and looks expectantly at Zach for instructions.

“Do you think you can bring yourself to leave the house? We can come get you, or I can send a car if you don’t want… I just think I need…”

He trailed off, studiously ignoring Kristen’s raised eyebrow and waited for an answer.

He can definitely hear Chris smile this time.

“You can pick me up anytime, you know that.”

“We’re on our way. Make sure you have some decent shoes on, otherwise I don’t think I can be seen with you.”

“Please. You love it.”

“Yeah.”

He turns to give Kristen directions, but she’s already heading the right way.

“Yeah, I do.”

 **The Time When They Thought Nobody Was Looking:**

  
The night before the Sydney premiere, they all hit the town. John could find his way to alcohol anywhere, and he dragged them to some tiny bar with $5 cocktails and they crammed themselves into a booth, enjoying what was possibly their last bit of relative anonymity.

Giddy with legality, Anton bought the first round, and it didn’t take long before Zach found himself with a lap full of Chris.

“Are you okay?”

‘I…” Chris trailed his lips along Zach’s jaw, “Am perfect.”

Zach grinned and leaned into the sensation, stretching his neck out to give him better access. He tuned out the rest of the bar until a coaster hit him on the arm.

“Jesus guys, keep it classy. I would have expected better of Zach, at least.”

Chris knocked back the tequila in front of him and threw the lemon at Karl, hitting him on the cheek.

“This is one of the last times I’ll be able to make out with my boyfriend in a bar without the paparazzi trying to make it a threesome, so you can fuck off.”

He twisted back around to Zach, but it only took a couple of seconds before the entire table started pelting them with torn-up cardboard and they reluctantly separated.

“Fine, fine. We’ll restrain ourselves. Fuck all of you.”

Chris pouted slightly until Zach kissed him on the cheek and wound their fingers together under the table.

The bar was obviously popular with a young crowd, and it didn’t take long before it was packed and the music started to vibrate through them, reducing conversation to a dull roar. A tiny, pretty local shyly asked Anton to dance and he was shoved to his feet before he had a chance to refuse. Zoe dragged John out soon afterward and Zach could see them whirling around the dance floor just enough to not be showing off.

It didn’t take long before Zach could feel Chris squirming next to him as he started dancing in his seat. He knocked back his drink and pulled Chris to his feet, waving at John and Karl as they moved towards the dance floor. The second they were deep enough in the crowd that no one would notice them Chris wrapped his arms around Zach and pressed the two of them tightly together. Catching Zoe’s gaze in the corner of his field of vision, he rolled his eyes affectionately and rested his arms on Chris’s shoulders, gently stroking his hands through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Chris pulled away slightly to slide his hands up Zach’s chest to rest along his collarbones, tracing his thumb along the base of his throat and pressing their foreheads together for a few seconds before pulling him closer and pressing their lips together.

*****

It took until about the third phone call before Chris managed to pull enough of himself free to answer.

“Why the fuck aren’t you answering your phone?” His publicist snapped down the line.

“I was asleep,” he whispers, untangling the rest of himself and shuffling into the hall.

“Why are you whispering? This isn’t the time for kidding around.”

“Zach’s still asleep.” Chris shut the door and returned to his normal volume.

“Of course he is. Have you gone outside today?”

“I just woke up, Barbara, where would I have gone?”

“Just stay put and don’t even look out the windows. I’ll be over soon.”

She hung up the phone and left Chris standing in his hallway, still no closer to knowing what was going on. He turned back to the bedroom, but before he’d taken a single step his phone started ringing again.

“Are you okay?” Zoe sounded concerned.

“What? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You haven’t checked your email yet?”

“We’re still in bed, Zo. I’ve only just woken up.”

“You haven’t seen…” She trailed off, thinking.

“What this about? My publicist’s just ordered me to stay away from the windows, and now you’re all worried…”

“I’ve got to go. Just, check your email, alright? I’ll talk to you soon.”

She hung up almost as abruptly as Barbara had and he wandered to the living room to pick up his laptop, still not quite knowing what was going on. He’d been pretty hammered last night, maybe he’d lashed out at another paparazzo?

He opened up the link Zoe had sent him and found a blog post with a picture of a few random girls in a dark night club, standing at the edge of a dance floor. It’s a sign of how tired he still was that it took him a good minute to figure out what he was looking at. In the crowd on the dance floor, framed by one of Perez’s obnoxious MS paint hearts, were he and Zach, leaning back from each other and laughing at something one or the other had said.

Which, alright, was a bit dodgy, but not as bad as the two phone calls had made out to be. Until he scrolled down.

There were three more pictures which, by the last one, completely eliminated all plausible deniability. The same girls in the foreground, he and Zach in the background, wound tighter and tighter around each other. In the last one, he’s licking Zach’s neck and Zach’s hands are clutched tightly to his sides, pulling his shirt up several inches.

Chris groaned and thunks his head down on the desk for a second, before picking the laptop up and heading back to the bedroom.

He tried to poke Zach awake, but he just growled and tried to bury himself under the covers.

“Leave m’lone.”

“Wish I could, baby, but we’re about to have five feet of irate publicist descend on us, so you should probably take a look at this.”

Zach emerged slowly, rubbing his eyes. “What the fuck? Why is she coming over?”

Chris smiled tightly and gestured to the screen. It took Zach a few seconds to catch up, but as soon as he’d scrolled through all the pictures he buried his head in Chris’s shoulder.

He pulled himself up a few seconds later. “Is that Sydney?”

“I think so.”

“That was over a year ago.”

“I know.”

“How are these only coming out now?”

The door to the bedroom slammed open, to reveal Barbara, glaring intently and lighting a cigarette. Zach squealed and yanked the covers up to his ears.

“I can’t believe you didn’t lock the fucking door.”

“I wasn’t expecting _this_ to happen!”

Barbara just rolled her eyes and tapped her cigarette ash into a flowerpot, patently ignoring Zach’s glare at the smoke.

“I just got off the phone with Perez’s people. They’re from Facebook, some girl posted them a few months ago, then a week or so ago, one of the friends of one of the girls was, for some reason, taking a particularly close look and recognised you.”

Chris slouched back in his pillows.“Wow, that’s… unlucky.”

“Indeed.” She tossed the rest of her cigarette in the flowerpot. “If it makes you feel any better, I think Perez forked out quite a bit for the pictures. Some girl in Sydney’s going to be rolling in Manolos for the next while.”

She lit another cigarette, throwing Zach a pointed look as he coughed dramatically.

“Only Perez has the story so far, and if I try, I can probably force him to take them down, at least until we’ve formulated a plan.” She looked hard at the two men in bed. “Is that what you want? Because the only thing keeping this off Oh No They Didn’t is that they don’t accept Perez posts, so the second someone else picks it up it’ll be all over there, and then it won’t really matter.”

Chris turned to Zach. “What do you want to do?”

“Me? What about you?”

“You’re the one who doesn’t talk about your personal life.”

“You’re the action hero.”

Chris reached a thumb up to run gently along Zach’s jaw. “Hey now. We’re _both_ action heroes.”

Zach laughed warmly and slid his head back to his pillow, ignoring Barbara and closing his eyes. “Say whatever you want. Just no pictures or interviews.”

Chris kept his eyes on Zach’s face for a moment, stroking his face gently, until Barbara coughed loudly from the doorway.

“What do you want me to say?”

“Tell them…” Chris trailed off, looking down at Zach again. “Tell them that seeing as a picture is worth a thousand words, any statement I could make would be redundant.”

Barbara threw her hands up and stalked out of the room. Zach, on the edge of sleep, smiled into his pillow, and Chris shifted himself back under the covers.

 **The Time When it Stopped Mattering:**

  
They arrive in a limo together. It doesn’t raise any questions, because they’re presenting together and the film’s coming out in a few months and they’re about to meld into that unified ChrisAndZach publicity machine. They hadn’t even had to fight for it, the film’s publicist thought it would be a fantastic idea. They’re presenting together anyway, the part about last week’s technical awards, and hitting the carpet together seems perfectly reasonable with that.

Even though it’s been three years since the first film, and they’ve both done countless things since then, it seems the press are always more interested in them as a unit then they ever were as individuals.

Inside the limo, Chris squeezes Zach’s hand and adjusts his bowtie, pulling away as Zach leans in for a kiss.

“If you don’t want all the red-carpet photos to have you with swollen lips and blown-out pupils, we should probably hold off on that.”

“You’ve got a high opinion of yourself.”

“I’m fairly confident it’s been earned.”

He presses a tiny kiss behind Zach’s ear. “That’ll have to do you until this is over.”

“Do you know how long this thing goes on?”

“If you win, I’ll meet you in the bathrooms.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Zach grabs his hand and presses a kiss to the inside of his wrist. “Good.”

Outside, they’re surrounding by flashing cameras, people throwing questions at Zach and Chris dutifully fades into the background like the un-nominated partner no-one knows he is. . He answers a few questions about his upcoming projects, but eventually finds himself drawn back to Zach, right as the questions switch from the ceremony to the next _Trek_.

“So you guys are done filming now?” The perky interviewer asks them.

“Pretty much, would you say, Chris?”

“Yeah, pending some sort of crisis. It’s just JJ and the editor all alone in a dark room for a while.”

“And will we see more of Spock and Kirk’s bromance in this film? I know fans of the series were disappointed you spent so much of the first film hating each other.”

Chris and Zach exchange a familiar look and Chris laughs, dipping his head against Zach’s shoulder in a gesture just this side of friendly as Zach reels off the equally-familiar answer. They’re being careful not to give anything away before the plot is released, but they’re both pretty sure anyone looking for bromance will be satisfied. Chris laughs silently again as he remembers JJ exasperatedly yelling at them to stop eyefucking each other long enough to get through shooting, or at least to keep it for the scenes where it might be appropriate.

Zach shrugs him off as the interview ends and they start heading inside, waving at some of the people they know in different sections and studiously avoiding others.

The show starts. During Neil Patrick Harris’s opening monologue Chris can see Zach nervously fiddling and looking like he’s trying to remember a list. His category is the only one where no-one’s run away with all the early season awards, the only one where pretty much anyone can still win. Zach’s refused to write a speech, because that’s temping fate –the Catholic thing comes out at the weirdest of times– and he doesn’t think he’ll win, but he’s still paranoid he’s going to forget to thank someone important. Chris points out that’s what ‘all my family and friends’ is for, but Zach remains mildly panicked.

The first section’s over and the mood in the room softens slightly during the ad break as a few people jitter and stand up to stretch their legs. Chris turns to Zach and doesn’t even look around before grabbing his hand and squeezing it, stroking the back with his other thumb.

“You have to relax, or you’re actually going to throw up when you win.”

“I’m not going to win.” He answers automatically.

“Fine.” Chris rolls his eyes. “Then you don’t need to worry, do you? And anyway, you know who to thank. You mention the other nominees, you thank your mom and your brother and the director and all your family and friends, you say something entirely random and you leave before they have to play you off.”

“It just…” He pauses like he’s trying to explain something to himself as much as Chris. “It won’t feel right if I don’t thank you too.”

Chris looks puzzled. “So thank me. You can thank whoever you want, it’s your speech.”

“No, I mean like… _Thank you_ thank you.”

He’s surprised, but not that much. He’s pretty sure Zach knows what his answer is, but Zach’s been tiptoeing around this whole thing for so long that sometimes he thinks himself into a corner.

So Chris smiles. “Like I said, it’s your speech.”

He slides his finger under Zach’s chin and tilts his face up to press a kiss against his mouth. The cameras haven’t started rolling again yet, and no one pays them a blind bit of notice. But almost immediately they’re live again and Sandra Bullock and Beyoncé are reading out the nominations.

“And the nominees for best actor in a supporting role are…”

 _Mos Def: Eternity_

 _Zachary Quinto: No More Yesterdays_

 _Richard Gere: Goodbye_

 _Casey Affleck: Winter Dawn_

 _Ethan Hawke: Snowblind_

“And the Oscar goes too… Zachary Quinto, No More Yesterdays.”

The look of shock on Zach’s face is 100% honest and Chris almost has to shake him to get him to step out of his seat. He pulls him to his feet and gets wrapped in the most gigantic hug, Zach whispering something indecipherable into his ear before he has to push past him to get at the stage. When he sits down, Zach’s co-star squeezes his hand and whispers ‘your boy did good’ as Chris stares at the stage, still unsure exactly what Zach’s going to say.

On-stage, Zach clutches his oscar with one hand and rakes the other one through his hair, letting messy locks fall into his face, and he spends the rest of the speech trying to get them back in place.

“Wow. I mean… I know everyone says this, but I genuinely did not expect to win this. All of the other nominees are so fantastic, and I wouldn’t have voted for me in such company. I have to thank my mom, and my brother, and the director Ben, and all of my family and friends.” He pauses for a second, switching the oscar and his hair between hands. “I almost didn’t do this film, because I was scared of how hard it might be. But my boyfriend told me that would be the worst decision of my life. I’ve learned to always bow to his judgment, and it turned into the best. Well, second best, after _Star Trek_ , because that’s where I met him. So, thank you Chris. And thank you Academy.”

In the burst of applause that accompanies Zach leaving the stage Chris jumps out of his seat and makes his way backstage, pushing past security as fast as he can. He gets backstage just as Zach is standing in front of the press, as awkward as always, his hand still trying to push his hair back into shape.

He laughs off the first question by saying that his publicist probably isn’t surprised, and the next three questions before jokingly rolling his eyes and asking if anyone wants to ask him about the Oscar. Chris is actually surprised that a few of them do, and the rest of the questions are the same as they probably would have been if Zach had made as boring and unmemorable a speech as anyone else.

He spots Chris across the room and manages to beg off the last few questions and running over to him, pulling him into the hallway to get away from the cameras.

“If I remember correctly, I owe you congratulations.”

Zach grinned. “And much as I would love to take you up on that, we have to be on stage in about two minutes.”

“Damn.”

“Don’t worry about it. The second we’re off-stage, I fully intend on collecting.”

  



End file.
